Arguments against right- wing extremism
Discussions with right- wing extremists.
· There isn’t much hope to converse convinced right-wing extremists by arguing. Against ideological strengthened or very strong emotional points of view, rational arguments aren’t of any help.
· But clearing arguments can, at the right timing, save an endangered person from sliding into the right-winged scene.
· Favourable are private conversations; unfavourable alone against a group of dissenters.
· Keep a quiet voice, and don’t let yourself get provoked. Avoid to be precocious, instructive or a know-it-all!
· If you give a reply to a right-winged slogan, you can’t avoid a defensive argument position. But that’s no reason to be lose your heart!
· Nail them down upon their slogan- subjects! Don’t give in too easily, make inquiries and don’t let them change the subjects rapidly!
Dimensions of right-winged “arguments” and ideologies.
1. Ethical classifications
(Racism, hostility to foreigners, hatred for Jewish people)
2. Economical classifications
(Loss-anxiety (vacancies, for example), social- envy, refusal of international economy)
3. Political-society classifications
(for “Law and order” against multiculturalism and overflowing with foreign influences, against homosexuality and equal rights for women)
4. National politic classification
(the leader-principle, refusal of democracy, nationalism, justification of the NS- regime, by denying of the Nazi- crimes)
5. Ideas about legitimate actions
(Militarylism, readiness for violence)
Frequently used right-winged theses/prejudices and contra-arguments (1) :
“Foreigners take away the Germans vacancies.”
- The 250,000 (approximately) employed foreigners (= round 9% of the (altogether) 3 million employed foreigners) achieve with their investments almost 600,000 vacancies in Germany.
- Qualified,foreing workers are needed (computer science), because there aren’t enough qualified Germans available.
- It’s common knowledge that foreign restaurants are very popular.
- Foreigners often take up work, which can rarely be filled with German workers (for example, low paid- or uncomfortable work)
Frequently used right-winged theses/prejudices and contra-arguments (2):
“Foreigners and apparent asylum seekers are straining our social-systems.”
- Foreign employees are paying, (because of their, compared with the German population, younger age-structures), more into the social-systems, than they receive.
- Without the immigration of foreigners, the social-systems would be, ( because of the German decline in population and birth-rate), more heavily strained.
- Refugees, who wanted to work, were so far, forced to do nothing. Since January 2001 asylum seekers are allowed to work ( 12 month after the begin of the asylum-process).
- If any “black sheeps” ( which also exist among Germans!) sneak themselves social-services, this must´n turn into a general condemnation of foreigners or asylum-seekers.
- It’s generally not illegitimate to move because of economical reasons. ( for example the migration form east- to west Germany)
Frequently used right-winged theses/prejudices and contra arguments (3):
“Foreigners are more criminal than Germans.”
Foreigners aren’t more criminal than Germans. It’s true that 1999 almost 27% of the suspects have been foreigners, although the foreign part of the entire population came up to 8% ,but :
- In the statistics also those suspects are registed, regarding criminal offences (according to the law of foreign-and asylum proceedings), which Germans can’t commit at all. Such offences are already declaring 25-30% of all cases.
- Persons without the German citizenship are, compared to the German population on average younger, frequently male and large-town-inhabitants. Persons of every origin with this characteristic features (Germans as well) commit (over averagely) often criminal offences.
- However, in the nineties, young people of non-German origin have been more criminal susceptible, than Germans. The causes are (among other things) : the social situations of many families, violence, a low education level.
Frequently used right-winged theses/prejudice and contra arguments (4):
“Foreigners don’t want to adapt themselves.”
- This statement only fits with a small minority of foreigners.
- Most foreigners want to adapt themselves, but they often come across fundamental diminished opportunities at the access of education and on the job market (very high number of unemployment figures, round 20%). Here are political corrections necessary, not the deportation of foreign people.
- Since 2000, the new right of citizenship eases the adaptation of foreign people by enabling the German citizenship for foreign children, who were born in Germany.
- The native traditions of foreign people, which they still keep in Germany, frequently form a valuable cultural enrichment ( and not only in the culinary art).
Frequently used right-winged theses/prejudices and contra arguments (5) :
“The politicians are corrupt and the democracy has off economised.”
- The democracy is and remains the best of all doable forms of government. Concrete improvements within the democratic structures and actions are always possible and debatable.
- In isolated cases, you can´t rule out corruption because politicians aren´t superhumans.The democracy proves ist function, by revealing such cases and by punishing the culprit.
- An authoritarian leader-state, however, is marked by criminal despotism. It forbids freedom, allows no opposition and doesn´t endure tolerance towards dissenters. It doesn´t tie itself to basic-rights, doesn´t know any authority-control, suppresses any pluralism and cuts off an independent, public, opinion.
- Because of that, the democracy must be full of fight to prevent a dictatorship.
Frequently use right-winged theses/prejudices and contra arguments (6):
“If the state does nothing against asylum-seekers, you´ve got to act.”
- That´s an obvious call to violence and law-breaking.
- The state is the only owner of the legitimate monopoly of violence.
- Decisions about the immigration- and adaption-politics as well as the asylum-politics are made by democratic rules. Who doesn´t want to accept this, however, isn´t allowed to perform self-jusice.
- If every social acting persons (other groups as well !), would take up to a “right” to perform violence, the civil-society would be finished off and at the end, chaos and civil-wars would break out.
Frequently used right-winged theses/prejudices and contra arguments (7):
“Homosexuals are sick.”
- Science has proved, that homosexuality is in the genes, and no sickness.
“Women are, first of all, for the reproduction of germans.”
- This patriarchal- reaktionary statement hurts the dignity of women and offences against the basic right of equality. The right of self-demeternation would be taken from women and they would be reduced to birth-machines.
- Mostly, this absolutely impossible point of view isn´t meant serious, but is supposed to provoke. Therefore it´s to consider, not to get involved in a discussion on this level.
Frequently used right-winged theses/prejudices and contra arguments (8) :
“Auschwitz did never exist. (Auschwitz-lie; denying of the NS-genocide)”
- Hitler´s „Mein Kampf“ makes clear, that he thought in the categories of existential extermination about the jews. In public-made statements, he repeated his intentions later.
- Numbers of (allegedly) „only“ 2-300.00 NS-victims, are entirely made-up. Under consideration of methodical problems of registration, highly-reputed historians came to a number of, at least, 5,29 to almost 6 million victims.
- Theses, that mass-carburetion at Auschwitz, practically, wouldn´t have been possible (“Leuchter-report”) or couldn´t be proved (“Rudolf-report”), have been formed out of wrong initial conditions. They had right-winged backgrounds and have clearly been disproved by various researchers.
Frequently used right-winged theses/prejudices and contra aruments (9) :
“Hitler´s motorway-projekt reduced the unem ployment.”
- The project opposed every rule of economical (and even military!) intelligence; it was rather guided by politic-symbolical criterions and was staged with the suitable propaganda. Against the meant mass-mobilization stood moreover the priorities of war-economy.
- There wasn´t a real reduction of unemployment. The height of employment was reached not until 1936 (120.000 workers), when the mass-unemployment has already been removed otherwise.
- The financial support for the motorways (till 1944 6,5 billion reichsmark = approx. 2/3 of the total amount), occured on credit fom the fortune of the unemployment insurance, so, from the employees themselves.